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BYU Farmers Market

The BYU Lavell Edwards Stadium Farmers Market
opened for the first time September 23, 2010. The Farmers Market is
just one more way that BYU Dining Services is helping the community and
supporting sustainability.

Over 25 booths lined the Lavell Edwards Staudium parking lot, selling
box loads of locally-grown produce and local goods. Over 50 percent of
the booths in the Farmers Market are required to be food booths
sponsored by local growers. This requirement helps the Farmers Market
stay true to its name by selling goods like peaches, cucumbers, breads,
cupcakes and more. BYU Dining Services' own Chef John McDonald also
hosts a booth with cooking demonstrations, showing students and other
Farmers Market attendees how to use the fresh goods they buy.

"Our goal is to support the BYU community - especially the students -
who do not have ready access to homegrown products," said Dean Wright,
director of BYU Dining Services. "We promote the concept that for
families and individuals, the fresher the food, the better."

Students and faculty as well as community members have a fun, accessible
source for good, homegrown goods. Be on the lookout each Fall Semester
for the dates and times of the BYU Lavell Edwards Stadium Farmers
Market.

BYU Dining Services Recycles!

It seems that everyone these days is going green. Though most BYU
students claim to bleed blue, the campus is going green as well.

BYU Dining Services is investing in a sustainability campaign to
ensure that the university is prepared for the future. The idea of
sustainability is that the consumption of today will not compromise the
resources of the future.

Dining Services Director Dean Wright showed the school's commitment
to sustainability by drafting a stewardship responsibility statement,
with the help of other Dining Services employees.

"It is no small thing to be made stewards of the Lord's house and
caretakers of His creations", the statement reads. "BYU Dining Services
strives to fulfill this responsibility through the purchase and use of
products which are safe for consumption, support local sustainability,
and demonstrate a commitment to stewardship. As the Lord has commanded,
individuals have the right to their own beliefs and every man or woman
should be honored in his or her station, with respect and deference."
The new Commons at the Cannon Center is filled with Energy Star
equipment, saving money and using much less power. The new Blue Line
Deli in the Tanner Building uses cups, plates and utensils made of
recyclable materials.

BYU Dining Services sends less waste to landfills than any other dining
program its size. To minimize waste, Dining Services uses food pulpers
(like the one shown here) to grind up leftover food, which Grounds then
picks up and turns into mulch. This method conserves water and keeps
harmful insects away. The recycling at the Missionary Training Center
alone saves $33,000 a year on the sewage bill, said Grounds Director Roy
Peterman.

"We're trying in significant ways to protect the resources of the university," Peterman said.

In 2005, the regional bureau of land management recognized BYU with the
water conservation award. BYU's water is redistributed to campus by a
pumping station at Helaman Halls. The 800,000 sprinklers have a 70
percent efficiency rate. Peterman said that the average home in America
is only 35 percent efficient.

Right now, Grounds is converting all of campus from treated to
untreated water supplies. This will save the university millions of
dollars, and also save Provo city 10 to 15 years in new water
development.

Though some colleges require recycling, Peterman said that BYU can only encourage students, faculty and staff to recycle.

"We were given a specific mandate not to make paper shufflers out of professors," he said.

Peterman also said that some schools even charge students for
recycling and still don't break even. BYU will begin plastic recycling
in September, sending bottles to a facility in For Hall, N.M. Although
the cost of recycling plastics will be high, it will be offset by the
profits of the other materials BYU recycles.

"You won't find as comprehensive a recycling and conservation
program as there is at BYU," Peterman said. "The whole campus is an
arboretum."

"Our focus is on getting the most harmful things out of the waste stream," Peterman said.

Since 2004, BYU has participated in the Recycle Mania program. The
competition began in 2001 between Miami and Ohio University. Now, over
400 colleges participate.

In 2008, BYU ranked 16 in overall tons of recyclable material. In
2007, BYU ranked 14 in the same competition. BYU also ranked 20 in 2007
for waste minimization - having the least amount of waste per person. In
2006, BYU was in the top 10 for waste minimization and top 20 for
pounds of paper recycled per person.